The Federal Budget

The White House budget for Fiscal Year 2019 released last week proposes cuts to many of the most important basic needs programs such as SNAP, Medicaid, and housing assistance. While we should be outraged over the number of households impacted as well as the dollar amount of these cuts, we should keep the families affected by these cuts at the forefront of our efforts to defend these programs.

Cuts to SNAP

One of the most surprising proposals in this budget is the idea to replace a substantial portion of SNAP benefits with boxes of food mailed by the government. These boxes would include non-perishable foods like peanut butter, shelf-stable milk, pasta, and canned goods including meats, fruits, and vegetables. Devra First of the Boston Globe tested out this idea and concluded that "the outrage is warranted.... The plan is almost willfully bad, from every angle."

Housing

In addition to the proposal to cut $213 billion from SNAP over 10 years, the budget also proposes cuts to several other programs that form the safety net for our struggling neighbors.

"Current rules require tenants receiving subsidies to pay at least 30 percent of their income on housing after deducting certain expenses such as medical and child care payments. The Trump administration does away with those deductions and additionally calls to raise the floor to 35 percent 'for all work-able households.'"

College Hunger

"Hunger was once considered a problem isolated to community college and state school students, but estimates now suggest that anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of students at four-year colleges have struggled with enough to eat."________________________________________